My Rose Garden Party part 3

The names are a bit grandiose in relation to the actual ‘gardens’ but it helps me remember which is what and where. I assure you it is entirely on purpose to no purpose except to point an old mind in the right direction.

You have to remember that I am more than 68 years old and my memory is impaired. I am scheduled for a 4-hour session with a neuropsychologist next week.

That sounds a bit scary and it is. But maybe this doctor can find where I lost my memory. I don’t remember where I put it.

In the front of the house are the west side garden, the west front garden, the front center and the east front.

We may only get through two gardens in a post. We’ll have to see how much gabbing I do.

The west side garden is probably the best place to start since it has the fewest plants.

West Side Garden

When we moved in more than 43 years ago there was a large chokecherry bush on a small hill. In order to plant a French White Lilac, we move the chokecherry bush to the west side of the house.

The major drawback to this location is that we can’t see the birds feeding on it.

It does well most of the time.

However, since an invasion of tent caterpillars a few years ago it has struggled. Tent caterpillars are a nuisance in town.

But in rural areas, they are outrageous and dangerous. Cars have slid into a ditch after striking a patch of caterpillars.

Area of Forest Tent Caterpillar aka Army worm forecast for 2018.Closeup of a single Forest Tent Caterpillar

Bob King An invasion by an army of forest tent caterpillars swarm the yards of residents in Lakewood Township.

fileCATERPILLAR0110c4 — t5.31.00 Bob King — kingICK2c1 — Hordes of forest tent caterpillars wriggle up the walls of a home on Apple Ave. in Lakewood Township this week only to fall back down in a pile and try again.

Just a glimpse of these crawling masses of Army worms is sufficient to bring back the odor of thousands (4 million can reside in one acre of a forest!) of these squished by car tires on rural roads.

They are nasty, ugly and bright green when squished.

People line the trunks of their expensive flowering trees to prevent these worms from climbing into the branches and devouring every last leaf.

Most of the time trees recover in the same season from being de-foliated. But there are times when the march of the Army worms is a contributing cause of trees dying.

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West Side Garden

In the west side garden, in addition to the chokecherry bush, we planted two Jens Munk roses in memory of Becky’s sister Sue. These Canadian Explorer roses have blossoms that may look frail but their canes are not in the least frail or fragile.

They have nipped a grandchild or two so they just stay out of that area of the yard now.

Ms. Munk looks after herself. Her thorns are almost a wicked as the rosa glauca (more on that rose later).

In the background of this garden are Iris. This is a picture of the bulbs we grew.